


between you & him, between me & you

by ivermectin



Category: Gossip Girl (TV 2007)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode: s03e09 They Shoot Humphreys Don't They, Friends to Lovers, Lowercase, Multi, Non-Linear Narrative, POV Alternating, POV Multiple, Threesome, all three of them get the POV microphone, entirely third person though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:07:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26874172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivermectin/pseuds/ivermectin
Summary: dan, olivia, vanessa; connected.or, one night in five vignettes.
Relationships: Vanessa Abrams/Dan Humphrey/Olivia Burke
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	between you & him, between me & you

**Author's Note:**

> title from "i am down tonight," by the plastiscines, mostly because it played in the episode.  
> the lowercase here is a stylistic choice.  
> -  
> i am not done watching season 3. the moment i was done with this episode, i tried to look for dan/olivia/vanessa fic and then just sat down and wrote this myself. the way ep9 ended had a lot of foreshadowing, so i wanted to make-believe.

1

olivia is laughing, head tipped back, and there they are with her in the same room, dizzy and giddy on youth and love, vanessa abrams & dan humphrey. there's the list, 14/15, one thing they haven't done yet, and the atmosphere of the room shifts. dan kisses olivia, and he's kissed her many times before, but this is different, this is for vanessa. 

vanessa is watching them, carefully neutral, and olivia breaks away, leaning into vanessa's space, kissing her gently, like a lover, the way dan kisses her. vanessa puts a hand in olivia's hair, they lean into each other. then, they break away, and there's something heavy, hanging over the three of them as olivia watches dan and vanessa looking at each other. there is something between the two of them, something heavy - she knows there was something there, vanessa in love with dan once or dan in love with vanessa or something, but it's all mixed up with childhood friendship and the way they are so solid, so unconditional, unshakeable. there is a line there, and dan and vanessa lean into each other, kissing, and none of it matters, because they're young, and she will be going away. 

2

later, dan will think: i am a fucking champ at beer boggle. i am, i am, i am.

3

vanessa's not ashamed to admit, as she lies in bed, after - watching the shapes of dan and olivia, curled in sleep, but not in a creepy way, it's just, she's awake, and she feels something she can't put into words, like nothing matters but them, dan and olivia, olivia and dan, dan, her best friend, olivia, her best friend's girlfriend, dan and olivia, her friends, her lovers. and she will smile to herself, closing her eyes. thinking of how she'd felt, kissing olivia - kissing a movie star, kissing a friend, kissing her roommate.

it hadn't been anything, it wasn't different from kissing dan, a mouth was a mouth and vanessa knew what she was, who she was - dan might consider himself the outsider all the time, but he had nothing on vanessa - always on the outside, on the fringes, hipster, alternative, punk vanessa - _queer_ vanessa, apparently. because it had been nice. her body and olivia's body and dan's hands and olivia's hands and dan's body and olivia's come on vanessa's fingers, vanessa licking it off while dan watched, his eyes darkened with lust, and olivia smiled at her softly, encouragingly, sweetly, and it was almost scary, how much she'd liked it. how content she'd felt.

4

later, dan will tell serena: i wish one night could've lasted forever.

5

after the sex, before they sleep, there are quiet, honest confessions.

olivia wants to say, "i hope i don't get between the two of you" and she hedges around it, and vanessa smiles and elbows dan, and says, "hey, friends who kiss movie stars together stay together, right?" 

and dan says, "sorry we couldn't make you levitate," and olivia laughs, and vanessa laughs, and dan grins for a minute before he joins them, laughing, and olivia has never had friends like this before. 

none of them has ever had something like this before, and all three of them are aware of that. whatever happens, or does not happen, they will have this. one moment linking them forever and ever, no matter what happens, no matter where it goes.

dan and vanessa and olivia. 

and so they lie there in the bed together, bodies still touching, even as they sleep. and in sleep, nothing can hurt them.

**Author's Note:**

> i really liked this episode!! i definitely want to revisit the other bits of it, in other fics maybe. jenny being queen, eric's world blowing up in flames around him, serena trapped in an elevator (again!), the whole thing with b & s, etc etc etc. 
> 
> for now though. cheers for..... danlivessa? olinessdan? vanlivdan??  
> sigh. ~~you know you love me.~~


End file.
